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Is this too ambitious of an idea?

todonelist

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Well, I have two ideas for, dare I say, "Uber" like app services.

On-demand services that cut out wait times and standard business hours and make things a lot more convenient for the consumer. Both ideas sprouted from thinking about my own needs that aren't currently offered in the marketplace.

I read somewhere it would take around $30k to make an "Uber" like app. Is that accurate?

If I wanted to go at these two ideas head on, what would I be getting myself into? What would be the best way to get the ball rolling?

Find $60k* and pay a developer to create the apps? Think it's possible to find a developer to partner and create the apps in exchange for part ownership? Anyone know how long it would take to get an "Uber like" app done and ready for market? Is this a dumb question?
 
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jpn

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I think you’re asking the wrong question. Building a Uber-like app and back-end isn’t that hard for any reasonably competent developer. Scaling it massively is harder, but a luxury problem.

The thing is uber is a marketplace. There are service providers and users.

The issue with these services is the chicken and egg problem. You need both sides of the marketplace to make it useful. Not enough drivers and no one will use it. Not enough users and no one will be a driver.

So how are you going to solve that problem? Getting critical mass? Technology and “apps” are the easy bit here.
 

todonelist

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I think you’re asking the wrong question. Building a Uber-like app and back-end isn’t that hard for any reasonably competent developer. Scaling it massively is harder, but a luxury problem.

The thing is uber is a marketplace. There are service providers and users.

The issue with these services is the chicken and egg problem. You need both sides of the marketplace to make it useful. Not enough drivers and no one will use it. Not enough users and no one will be a driver.

So how are you going to solve that problem? Getting critical mass? Technology and “apps” are the easy bit here.

Really? Ok. Well, that makes me feel a bit better. As a compelete non-techy, the thought of creating the app seems extremely hard and complicated. But again, that may just be because I'm not a developer and don't know how to code to save my life.

As far as the issue with service providers and users. I definitely put some thought into it and I just figured the standard FB/IG ads, Youtube Ads and any other ad channels that would make sense. I do wonder what would be the best way to start. I assume it would be by "hiring" the service providers first and then bringing in the users. I would imagine this would have to be very quick, right? I mean, it would be weird to be signing service providers up for 1+ months with zero users.

All in all, I think the services are SO useful and convenient that it would spread fairly easily through word of mouth after deploying an effective advertising strategy. I know for a fact that many people would love the convenience of both services but it is definitely intimidating thinking about HOW to recruit service providers and users quickly so neither of them get on the app and find that it's ghost town.

Maybe it would be best to start recruiting in one particular area/city to make it easier to grow?
 

kkoasdfawfqwe2

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Maybe it would be best to start recruiting in one particular area/city to make it easier to grow?

I know for sure this is/was Uber's approach at least for some places.

As a previous affiliate marketer I use to deliver quite some leads for Uber and they would allow only targeting in e.g. 'Sydney, Australia' for a specific campaign.

I also believe this is the approach in these kind of peer to peer platforms.

Good luck with your project!
 
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todonelist

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I know for sure this is/was Uber's approach at least for some places.

As a previous affiliate marketer I use to deliver quite some leads for Uber and they would allow only targeting in e.g. 'Sydney, Australia' for a specific campaign.

I also believe this is the approach in these kind of peer to peer platforms.

Good luck with your project!

Thanks!! I figured that would make it seem like a more manageable "bite" of a huge pie. I'm based in Atlanta, GA so I assume it'd be good to start here. You were an early Uber affiliate? Cool! How did the compensation work? They paid out $ for a driver(or rider?) that signed up through your link?
 

kkoasdfawfqwe2

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How did the compensation work? They paid out $ for a driver(or rider?) that signed up through your link?

I think they might still run very few campaigns, not sure.

They paid differently for cities and countries, but I remember Sydney I believe was $5 for every LEAD, which is quite high considering their brand and conversion rate.

Needless to say it was a money machine for the period that they bought leads in big volume.

But they were looking very thoroughly at the leads you generated, in order to assure the quality was good, so you had to deliver proper leads of course.

It was interesting and a good way to learn how you would market a product like this.

I believe the $5 leads were for driver leads, but they also gathered customers with affiliate marketing and the payouts were also quite high for that, but I don't remember specifics..
 

Chris25

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Well even Uber had to start somehow. The first versions of all popular apps & websites are basic. It's later on they start growing, they get investors and blow up.
 
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Vigilante

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Well, I have two ideas for, dare I say, "Uber" like app services.

On-demand services that cut out wait times and standard business hours and make things a lot more convenient for the consumer. Both ideas sprouted from thinking about my own needs that aren't currently offered in the marketplace.

I read somewhere it would take around $30k to make an "Uber" like app. Is that accurate?

If I wanted to go at these two ideas head on, what would I be getting myself into? What would be the best way to get the ball rolling?

Find $60k* and pay a developer to create the apps? Think it's possible to find a developer to partner and create the apps in exchange for part ownership? Anyone know how long it would take to get an "Uber like" app done and ready for market? Is this a dumb question?

Not sure what you meant by too ambitious. Is that a thing?
 

todonelist

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I think they might still run very few campaigns, not sure.

They paid differently for cities and countries, but I remember Sydney I believe was $5 for every LEAD, which is quite high considering their brand and conversion rate.

Needless to say it was a money machine for the period that they bought leads in big volume.

But they were looking very thoroughly at the leads you generated, in order to assure the quality was good, so you had to deliver proper leads of course.

It was interesting and a good way to learn how you would market a product like this.

I believe the $5 leads were for driver leads, but they also gathered customers with affiliate marketing and the payouts were also quite high for that, but I don't remember specifics..

Thanks a lot, didn't think about using affiliates to help grow, this helps.

Well even Uber had to start somehow. The first versions of all popular apps & websites are basic. It's later on they start growing, they get investors and blow up.

Not sure what you meant by too ambitious. Is that a thing?

Well, I guess the thought of it makes me feel kinda overwhelmed because I have zero tech/coding experience and not much knowledge on the business of building apps and such - in which I also know I can outsource that stuff but I just got this instant "in over my head" feeling when I first got the idea. When I asked if it was "too ambitious" of an idea, I guess I was just talking unconsciously from my deeply conditioned limited mindset.
 

todonelist

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Only when you believe it is.

That makes sense. This is by far the biggest/outside my comfort zone idea I've had so far so it's a bit intimidating. Hearing you guys' outlook/mindset is certainly helping me get over the initial doubt!
 

Davejemmolly

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Are you talking about actually being competition to Uber, or using that on demand / two sided network concept for something else?
 

DVU

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Find someone that will code the app for you in exchange for equity
 

todonelist

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Are you talking about actually being competition to Uber, or using that on demand / two sided network concept for something else?

No not Uber/Lyft competition. It's using the same on-demand, tap-of-a-button concept but for different services.
 

Davejemmolly

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You should definitely try to get a copy of Brad Stone’s book ‘the upstarts’

It’s about how Uber and Airbnb started, and broadly how the scaled.

Will probably answer many questions!
 

todonelist

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You should definitely try to get a copy of Brad Stone’s book ‘the upstarts’

It’s about how Uber and Airbnb started, and broadly how the scaled.

Will probably answer many questions!

Got it thanks!!
 
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minivanman

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You have something that needs to be done that Thumbtack doesn't offer the service? Hell, they comb your hair, replace the air in your tires, fix your a/c and walk your dog.... what else needs done that they don't offer? About the only thing they don't do is wipe your (*) but you can go to care.com for that. lol
 

todonelist

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What are you going to do which makes you better than uber?

I won't be competing with Uber, it's a completely different service based business that consumers would be ordering, not ridesharing or meal delivery.

You have something that needs to be done that Thumbtack doesn't offer the service? Hell, they comb your hair, replace the air in your tires, fix your a/c and walk your dog.... what else needs done that they don't offer? About the only thing they don't do is wipe your (*) but you can go to care.com for that. lol
You could possibly get it from thumbtack but I think it'd work if I just niched it down to each idea instead of a huge marketplace of services. First time hearing about thumbtack btw.
 
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minivanman

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There are other sites besides Thumbtack.... better do your homework before you invest.
 

ManlyMansNegator

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I won't be competing with Uber, it's a completely different service based business that consumers would be ordering, not ridesharing or meal delivery.


You could possibly get it from thumbtack but I think it'd work if I just niched it down to each idea instead of a huge marketplace of services. First time hearing about thumbtack btw.
Well , it will be hard but that is the point.

Just do not give up and the difficulty will transform into happiness.
 
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todonelist

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Well , it will be hard but that is the point.

Just do not give up and the difficulty will transform into happiness.
Right, thanks for the push! I'll be looking for developers interested in partnering up. Funny thing is, I recently ran into a guy with coding experience but he was trying to recruit me into Amway. He was really in DEEP and probably wouldn't entertain any other biz opps other than the promising Amway comp plan.
 

ManlyMansNegator

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Right, thanks for the push! I'll be looking for developers interested in partnering up. Funny thing is, I recently ran into a guy with coding experience but he was trying to recruit me into Amway. He was really in DEEP and probably wouldn't entertain any other biz opps other than the promising Amway comp plan.
You could probs build the skeleton version then ask for an experienced coder to help visually design your app.
 

Nigel B

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That makes sense. This is by far the biggest/outside my comfort zone idea I've had so far so it's a bit intimidating. Hearing you guys' outlook/mindset is certainly helping me get over the initial doubt!
Richard Branson - "If your dreams don't scare you, they are too small".
 
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Nigel B

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The one problem with the local market approach is that any marketplace app. is almost impossible to protect as there is no core IP. The value as noted by others comes from the participation of the two parties - so there is a major need to create critical mass as early as possible.

These businesses are one of the few where it makes more sense to get investor involvement as soon as practical in order to ensure the copycats cannot keep up with your growth.

BTW: I know you can see the value of your idea - but almost every inventor believes their invention is essential to the world - how much validation have you done / can you do before pouring money into development but more importantly the necessary marketing effort to kickstart a marketplace (not a trivial endeavor by any stretch of the imagination).
 

AdamMaxum

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FWIW building an app does cost a lot of money and time. Please make sure your idea is valid and that you’re not expecting to make money anytime soon. There are a lot of cases where you spend time and money to build the app and nothing happens.

If it’s possible to test or even offer this service via a website instead of an app try that first as it will cost much less. I would test a couple markets with landing page offering your service/idea and seeing if anyone bites. Test and verify the need and desire before you invest in an app.

Also app stores take a 30% cut of all revenue you generate. Most people don’t know that.
 

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